After arriving in London on September 24th, 1966, Jimi almost immediately began touring and recording with his new band, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, which now included bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell. Their first live performances (October 13-18, 1966) were for a brief European tour opening for Johnny Hallyday, where they played short, 15 minute sets comprised of cover tunes ("In The Midnight Hour", "Have Mercy On Me Baby", "Land of a Thousand Dances" and "Hey Joe"). This was soon followed by a heavy schedule of London "showcases", TV appearances and more European tour dates.
In between live appearances, the trio made 16 trips to various studios (including De Lane Lea Studios (at their old 129 Kingsway address), CBS Studios, and Olympic Studios) and, under the strict guidance of producer Chas Chandler, produced 17 songs which would be released as a combination of singles and an LP (Are You Experienced). The working method behind most of these songs was fairly straight-forward:
- Jimi comes up with riffs and lyrics while jamming at Chandler's apartment.
- The band goes into a studio, rehearses, and then lays down basic tracks (drums, bass, guitar).
- A few songs have demos worked up during leftover studio time.
- Some songs are rerecorded at different studios and dates.
- Additional studio sessions are often used to add lead and backup vocals, guitar solos, overdubs and sound effects.
- Finally, the songs are mixed for vinyl release.
"The secret of my sound is largely the electronics genius of our tame boffin who is known to us as Roger the Valve...We're mostly working with the high-octaves scene..." - Jimi
"All the boxes I made for Jimi were called 'Octavia', but they were each optimized for different specific sounds. The one that was used on 'Purple Haze' gives you an octave above. But it's more than that, because the technique we used is actually the equivalent of putting something in between two mirrors, so you get an infinite mirror image, the doubling goes way out." - Roger Mayer.
"Hey Joe" and "Stone Free"
Released December 16th (May 1st, 1967 in the US)
 |
 |
"Hey
Joe is a blues arrangement of a cowboy song that's about a hundred
years old....Lots of people have different arrangements of it and Tim
Rose was the first to do it slowly."
"Hey Joe" is a cover of Tim Rose's slow arrangement of the song (published under Billy Roberts' name). It was Jimi's performance of this tune that cemented Chas Chandler's signing of Jimi in New York. Jimi adhered to Rose's arrangement but added an original guitar intro (the chiming chordal lick tagged onto the beginning of the song) which has a similar style to his intros for a couple pre-Experience singles such as "Can't Stay Away" (Don Covay) and "My Diary" (Rosa Lee Brooks). This unison open-string harmony helps to create a signature "ka-ching" sound which immediately gets one's attention. His chordal comping and guitar solo are of course completely his own construction as well.
In the studio, Jimi had originally wanted to record his guitar at high volume (probably to get a beefier tone) but Chas wouldn't allow it. There are two guitar tracks, one clean (undistorted) rhythm track and another "heavier" track which provides support through clipped accents on the downbeats, various verse fills and the lead solo. The basic track was recorded at one of their earliest studio sessions at De Lane Lea, while lead vocals and female background vocals (by the Breakaways), were added later at different studios (Pye, CBS, De Lane Lea). In the ending sequence, where the accented chromatic riffs come in, one can really sense the band straining to burst free of the ballad-groove (especially Mitch). This power is nicely balanced by the female background singers, who give it a fairly commercial production sheen. Another "live" take (ie - with live lead vocals and guitar solo) was later attempted at Regent Studios, but they chose to work up and release the earlier take from DLL.
As the JHE's debut single, "Hey Joe" had a huge impact on the London scene. Apparently John Lennon even brought a tape of "Hey Joe" to a dinner at a high end restaurant, and played it for all of his friends. It's an interesting choice as a debut single, as it only barely hints at the innovations to come. However, to an un-"Experienced" public I can imagine this being fairly outrageous for its lyrical content and unusual harmony progression. "Hey Joe" didn't make as big a splash in the US, however, and at that time Jimi suggested that it may have been due to the bleak lyrics (which are pretty dark for a gestating "Summer of Love").
"Stone Free has city sounds and sounds of the establishment. It should mean a whole lot in itself."
The B-side to "Hey Joe" featured "Stone Free". Originally Jimi wanted to try a cover of "Land of A Thousand Dances" (or possibly Howlin' Wolf's "Killing Floor"), but Chandler forced him to write his first original composition for the JHE. Also recorded at DLL, the basic track includes guitar, vocal and percussion overdubs. It's not a bad song, but it's probably most notable for Noel's bum note in the 2nd verse, Jimi's fuzz-drenched, off-the-fingerboard guitar solo and the sudden-ending segue to "Third Stone From the Sun". Jimi would later rerecord this tune a few times, but the refurbished versions were never released in his lifetime.
| The Jimi Hendrix Experience | ||
| Title | Time | |
| Hey Joe | 3:34 | 0:00: Guitar intro, band comes in on transition to verse. 0:08: 1st verse backed by 2 guitar tracks and female bkup vocals. 1:40: Guitar solo. 2:03: Accented chromatic riff leads to 2nd verse. 2:48: Accented chromatic riff resurfaces more and more often. |
| Stone Free | 3:39 | 0:00: Opening based on guitar open string harmonics and bass grace notes. 0:04: 1st verse: Cowbell-driven boogie with accented funk chords on every other downbeat. 0:40: Bridge vamp. 0:54: Chorus, based on a 2-note see-saw riff. 1:14: 2nd verse (Noel flubs a chord at 1:28). 1:50: Bridge, chorus. 2:24: Fuzz guitar solo over a vamp (Note the tremolo/string slide figure at 2:36. This is a jazz device pioneered by the great gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt.) 2:52: Chorus with new syncopated accents. 3:26: Hard cut to a vamp groove (which will be slowed down and reused in "Third Stone From the Sun"), fuzz guitar fade out. |
"Purple Haze" and "51st Anniversary"
Released March 17th, 1967
 |
 |
"(It's)
about a dream I had that I was walking under the sea...I had linked
upon a story I read in a science-fiction magazine about a purple death
ray...It's about...this girl turned this cat on and he doesn't know if
it's tomorrow or just the end of time.."
For most Americans, "Purple Haze" is the "1st" Hendrix tune (as we usually first pick up Are You Experienced), and probably his most famous. If "Hey Joe" was restrained, then "Purple Haze" was Jimi cut loose. The level of sonic experimentation here is almost as outlandish as anything Jimi ever recorded. In fact, when Stevie Ray Vaughan first heard "Purple Haze", he couldn't believe it was an actual guitar.
Compositionally, it opens with a signature "dirge" which gets its vibe from the extreme dissonance created from a tritone harmony created by guitar and bass accents. This leads to the signature guitar riff which outlines a fuzzed-out jazz chord (Em7). The verse alters the jazz chord a little to make it more "R&B" (Em7#9, the so-called "Hendrix chord"). After a couple verses (complete with vocal breaks, another jazz device), the song modulates through power chords into the solo, which although essentially in E minor, also modulates through some major key harmonies. They way Jimi navigates this solo break is simply stunning, and in my opinion one of the best solos of his entire career. I think he must have felt pretty good about it, since he duplicated most of it note-for-note in live performances. One thing that often gets overlooked is the rhythm guitar part during the solo. There, Jimi hits power chords and uses his whammy bar to sustain moaning, howling feedback. This device of course would soon be featured in "Third Stone From the Sun", "I Don't Live Today" and "EXP".
The basic tracks were recorded in three takes at De Lane Lea, followed by short, scattered overdub sessions in the following days. Eventually the song was finished at Olympic Studios with Eddie Kramer at the controls. A new take was attempted at Olympic, but they eventually chose to just add new vocals and lead guitar to the DLL tape. Noel later suggested that Jimi might have played a Telecaster for the solo guitar part.
Jimi used "tame boffin" Roger "the Valve" Mayer's Octavia pedal in the solo (4th measure on), and for the ending Kramer was reportedly the one who suggested adding in a sped-up tape of an Octavia guitar sequence. Noel contributed background vocals/groans, and additional background ambiance was achieved by playing the song back through headphones and then recording the sound of the tiny headphone speakers from various distances. Lyric-wise, the book Electric Gypsy connects Jimi's lyrics with Philip Jose Farmer's story "Night of Flight" in Fantasy & Science Fiction, June 1957.
Even with dozens of Hendrix releases out there, the production behind the guitar tones here is so bizarre, it's really hard to figure out what's going on unless one hears the basic tracks. Fortunately, through things like the "Rock Band" games, individual Hendrix tracks can be somewhat accessed, and using these "secret tracks" one can hear that the verse guitar part has a second guitar part which is just rhythmic pick scraping noise - this is what gives it that strange attack. Additionally, the primitive nature of fuzz pedals at this time and the lo-fi recording techniques add to the iconic "fuzz" of the rhythm guitar track. As mentioned above, the solo and ending "swirling" textures are enhanced by the use of Roger Mayer's Octavia pedal, which adds a higher octave tone to every note.
"Marriage
is OK for some people, but it's not for me. I don't like anything to
tie me down. You'd have to work a whole lot of Voodoo on me to get me
married."
"51st Anniversary" was recorded on Jan 11, 1967 at De Lane Lea, with a completed guitar track reportedly assembled from 5 punched-in takes. Lyrically, this song has a dim view of marriage, possibly prompted by Jimi's own broken-home experiences. Compositionally, the highlight here is the way Jimi develops the "response" lick in each verse. In each of the three verses, the "answer" lick evolves to reflect a souring outlook on marriage ("here come the bad side").
| Purple Haze | 2:55 | 0:00: Dissonant dirge opening. 0:05: Intro riff: Bass continues dirge pulse (actually two basses playing criss-cross figures) as guitar plays lead line. 0:23: 1st verse (2 fuzz guitars), vocal break, accented transition. 0:52: 2nd verse, break, transition. 1:12: Modulating bridge with lead line. 1:19: Guitar solo processed with Octavia (rhythm section based on verse harmony but solo plays more exotic scales) with background chanting. 1:35: Intro riff (variation). 1:53: 3rd verse, break, transition, bridge with extended lead line. 2:20: Verse harmony with vocal chanting and panned guitar (sped up and processed with Octavia). |
| 51st Anniversary | 3:18 | 0:00: Pulsed accents, guitar melody line, echoed by bass. 0:11: 1st verse over accented groove embellished by R&B soul guitar fills, transition. 1:00: Pulsed accents with vocal melody line, vocal break/transition. 1:18: 2nd verse: the guitar fills evolve into stuttering wails, transition. 2:07: Pulsed accents sequence with melody line in vocal and guitar, vocal break/transition. 2:40: Coda based on verse groove and leading to a 2-note see-saw ending vamp. |
"The Wind Cries Mary" and "Highway Chile"
Released May 5th, 1967
"We don't play all the songs loud...It's nothing but a story about a break-up.."
"The Wind Cries Mary" is basically an R&B ballad, but it couches the standard chord progression in between unusual chromatic riffs, played in stop-time rhythm. This gives it a strange "floating" feeling. The solo is not overly-fuzzed out, but is still brimming with attitude. On top of this, Jimi's lyrics and vocal delivery are several leaps up from "Hey Joe" and "Purple Haze". Entirely created at De Lane Lea, this song was learned, rehearsed, and then recorded in about 20 minutes (using 2 takes, and a few guitar overdubs). New versions were recorded at a later session but the initial tracks were ultimately chosen for the single release.
"I wish I could travel all the time, it's nice to get experience."
| The Wind Cries Mary | 3:25 | 0:00: Chromatic rising figure, repeated with and without drums in different registers. 0:14: 1st verse: Chordal guitar based on R&B comping. 0:35: Chromatic figure variation as a bridge. 0:47: 2nd verse, bridge (additional chordal accents). 1:21: Guitar solo (overdubbed) based on verse harmony and ending in key modulations. 1:52: 3rd verse, bridge. 2:26: 4th verse, bridge with added guitar embellishments in ending phases. |
| Highway Chile | 3:35 | 0:00: Intro based on falling guitar wails (unison bends) answered by accents. 0:14: 1st verse: Sauntering blues boogie with a see-saw chordal cadence. 0:49: Intro wails, 2nd verse, intro wails. 1:49: Guitar solo (high-powered blues licks) over verse harmony (1st half). 2:12: 3rd verse (2nd half), ending based on modulating guitar wails over a stable bass harmony. |
Are You Experienced
Released May 12, 1967
The Are You Experienced LP was released a week after the "Mary" single hit. At this point the JHE were clearly the "new big thing" in the UK. Very shortly, Paul McCartney would arrange for them to perform at the Monterey International Pop Festival in California, which would break them wide open in the US. Later, while in New York City, he played the new LP for his old Harlem friends and they were almost taken aback by the dramatic evolution that Jimi had undergone from his "Jimmy James" days.
Out of all three studio albums released in Jimi's lifetime, this one had the most influence from Chas Chandler and the psychedelic London scene. In fact, in my opinion the impact that 60's English rock culture had on the making of Are You Experienced simply can't be overstated. Jimi was a guitar genius with phenomenal raw talent, but the explosive brilliance of his debut LP was due in large part to his willingness to visit other shores on his musical journey.
| The
Jimi Hendrix Experience Are You Experienced |
|||
| Trk | Title | Time | |
| 1 | Foxey Lady | 3:22 | Chas only brought the group into CBS studios for one brief string of sessions in late 1966. "Foxey Lady" basic tracks and overdubs were all recorded there, with Jimi playing through 4 Marshall cabinets (miked from 8 feet away with a Neuman U-67 condenser mike). The groove on this tune is ballsy as hell, but it's also extremely rewarding to pay attention to all of the various overdub fills Jimi adds and develops around every 3rd beat of a measure. Noel takes credit for ending the song on a B power chord ("should've gotten 5 percent..."). An unedited version can be found on the JHE box set. 0:00: Volume swell on heavy vibrato note, upbeat falling slide. 0:09: 1st verse: Monster groove based on a fuzzed-out jazz chord with fragments bounced between low and high strings. Every 3rd quarter note has an overdubbed wail/unison bend which later alternates with a high trill or other fills. "Foxey" is whispered in stereo, and the second guitar plays grace-note fills higher up the neck. 0:40: Bridge, vocal break, "catcall" guitar motif. 0:59: 2nd verse, bridge, vocal break, catcall guitar motif. 1:48: Guitar solo over verse groove (and more whispers). 2:08: Bridge, vocal break, volume swell feedback (hangs over into next section). 2:31: Outro based on verse groove, ending in an slow, overdubbed, descending pick slide. |
| 2 | Manic Depression | 3:47 | An unusual hard blues based on triplet 8th notes, this was recorded at De Lane Lea (using a sunburst Strat replacing a white one recently stolen) and mixed at Olympic. Even now, it's fairly uncommon to have a hard rock song based on 3's (as opposed to 4's). Mitch's drums shine in the many breaks. 0:00: Intro figure (derived from verse cadence). 0:04: 1st verse, cadence. 0:39: 2nd verse with added guitar wails, cadence. 1:18: Wailing guitar bridge (with vocal crooning) becomes a fuzz guitar solo (over a static vamp harmony). 2:00: 3rd verse with wailing fills. Riff continues with more and more wailing. 3:13: Wailing/crooning bridge leads to ending feedback (toggling guitar pickups). |
| 3 | Red House | 3:44 | "...Everybody was scared to release it in America, they said, 'Man, America don't like blues, man!' Blues is a part of America, it means Elmore James and Howlin' Wolf and Robert Johnson, it means Muddy Waters and Bo Diddley...you can have your own blues." Mono version, probably from a CBS session. There are a couple versions of "Red House", but three different books will present three different background histories, so who knows which was recorded where? On one version, Noel Redding played the bass line on a second guitar. An alternate stereo take (probably De Lane Lea) can be found on some versions of Smash Hits. The latest Experience Hendrix 1997 release of AYE uses the stereo version, but the original LP used this mono version. 0:00: Blues chord arpeggios with wide vibrato, eventually leading into a lead over the back end of a 12-bar blues progression. 0:44: 1st verse (blues progression) with generous guitar fills. 1:27: 2nd verse. 2:10: Guitar solo. 2:54: 3rd verse (includes a vocal break at the end). |
| 4 | Can You See Me | 2:36 | An early demo was reportedly recorded at De Lane Lea, but this track was created at CBS. This track features a clean rhythm guitar and a heavier lead guitar line overdub. It stands out for its stereo panning/reverb during the 1-note guitar breaks. Jimi also skillfully and patiently develops the second guitar lead line over the 2nd, 3rd and 4th verses. 0:00: Accented (syncopated) power chords gives way to a panned guitar bend (break). 0:11: 1st verse based on heavy groove alternating with accented intro motif. 0:33: Transition and vocal break, panned guitar break. 0:44: 2nd verse (added guitar overdubs), transition, vocal break. 1:15: Guitar solo over essentially a 1-chord vamp which also plays with an "exotic" minor 2nd harmony. Panned guitar break. 1:31: 3rd verse with developed guitar overdubs, transition, vocal break, panned guitar break. 2:05: 4th verse (with overdubbed guitar lead), final accented chords. |
| 5 | Love Or Confusion | 3:17 | Basic tracks were recorded at CBS, with overdubs later added at Olympic (featuring Roger Mayer's fuzz pedals and possibly pedals borrowed from the Fugs if Jimi wasn't BS-ing). The only time the JHE ever played this song live was on a February 1967 BBC session. 0:00: Intro based on fanfare chord, bass slides and pickup toggle noise (?), leading to drum break. 0:07: Rhythm guitar plays rubbery, psychedelic chordal solo over power chords. 0:16: 1st verse: Power chords play harmony progression, as a separate feedback guitar sounds pedal tones manipulated with whammy bar. 0:34: Bridge with 2 separate lead guitar figures eventually coming together in a chromatic figure and whammy bar dive bomb. 0:50: 2nd verse, bridge. 1:26: Guitar solo over modulating power chords and a staccato bass arpeggio figure. 2:00: 3rd verse, bridge (developed). 2:34: Coda based on repeated bridge cadence with "feedback breaks". |
| 6 | I Don't Live Today | 3:58 | "I Don't Live Today is dedicated to the American Indian and all minority oppressed groups... I was thinking back about two or three hundred years...Your home isn't America, it's the Earth." Basic tracks were recorded at DLL. A hand-controlled wah-wah filter (and probably some Octavia) was applied to some of the guitar tracks (three overlapping guitar tracks were recorded). The lead vocal was added later at Olympic. 0:00: Tribal drum break is joined by jagged chordal guitar riffs. 0:09: Main "stop time" riff, modulating in a blues progression and shadowed by a whammy-feedback guitar track. 1:01: Bridge, based on accented (screaming) fuzz-funk chords. 1:18: Guitar solo (with some subtle wah-wah post-processing) over octave riffing. 1:52: Bridge variation. 2:08: Feedback interlude (often extended in live concerts). 2:22: Main riff in a frenzied variation resumes leading to 2nd guitar solo and psychedelic feedback rave up (using at least 3 distinct guitar parts). "There ain't no life nowhere...get experienced..are you experienced?" |
| 7 | May This Be Love | 3:14 | "There are only two songs on my album that would give anybody the horrors if they were on a trip: "Are You Experienced?" and "May This Be Love". But they are actually peace-of-mind songs...meditational shades. As long as you can get your mind together while you are listening to them, they've made it with you, man". Initially titled "Waterfall", this song was recorded at Olympic. Jimi's exquisite chord-work here contrasts with echoed slide guitar and pick noise effects. The guitar solo is extremely unusual as, by merely sliding his finger around on just one string, he produces one of his most lyrical solos ever. The rotating cross-panning of the drums and guitar during the solo is also notably psychedelic. 0:00: A floor tom roll is joined by a chromatic descending slide guitar texture. 0:15: 1st verse over gently-comping soul guitar and tight snare rolls, cadencing on an echoed guitar slide. 0:36: 2nd verse cadencing in muffled pick noise and page-turning noise. 0:59: Bridge based on chunky funk riffing, ending on a modulating cadence and drum roll. 1:33: 3rd verse. 1:52: Guitar solo over verse harmony (lead guitar and drums are panned around in opposite stereo directions). Some background noises may be backwards guitar/cymbals? |
| 8 | Fire | 2:48 | Basic tracks were initially recorded at DLL (with an improvised solo rather than the later more melodic unison lead). These were essentially scrapped and an entirely new take was created at Olympic. Jimi recorded a 2nd rhythm guitar take but the final mix only employs a second guitar during the melodic lead break sections (with one guitar filtered with a Mayer Octavia). Noel thinks a Telecaster might have been used this session. 0:00: Main guitar riff leads to Jimi's taunt over a drum break. 0:13: 1st verse based on stop-time riffing over a churning drum groove. 0:24: Chorus with uptempo groove, leading to drum break. 0:44: 2nd verse, chorus. 1:09: Bridge, melodic guitar lead (2 simultaneous tracks of a wailing melody motif, with one guitar processed with Octavia) 1:34: Intro sequence, 3rd verse, chorus. 2:11: Key briefly modulates with re-entrance of melodic guitar lead. |
| 9 | 3rd Stone From The Sun | 6:51 | "It's about these cats coming down and taking over, but they find they don't really see anything here that's worth taking (laughs). They observe Earth for awhile and they think that the smartest animal on the whole Earth is chickens...they don't like the people too much so they just blow it up at the end." Initial takes were recorded at DLL and CBS, but were mostly discarded. These leftovers have never been released, but the ending of "Stone Free" may give an idea of the grooves they were going for. The eventually-released version was essentially created at Olympic, with some Mayer Fuzz Face generously employed at the end. Some vocal parts were recorded with the basic track playing at double speed, so that when played back at normal speed the voices would come out slower (at half-speed). The lyrics follow the breakdown (some spoken word sequences can only be heard by manipulating the Rock Band multi-tracks). 0:00: Floating jazz chords over a bass arpeggio, joined by slowed down vocals. 0:09: Guitar shadows bass arpeggios. 0:17: Theme A (based on chiming chordal figure). 0:26: Floating chords, arpeggios. 0:34: Chordal break. 0:43: Theme B in octaves over a loping bass groove. 1:20: Theme A into funk guitar solo over Theme B groove variation. 1:39: Spoken word over Theme B variation groove, then back to Theme B with lead guitar melody. 2:27: Dive-bomb guitar leads to a simmering jazz-shuffle vamp and generous amounts of whammy-bar guitar feedback, slowed-down spoken word, etc. 5:12: Heavy Theme B reprise, leading to layers of guitar cacophony and slowed down tape effects. Lyrics:
(Slow)
Jimi: Star fleet to scout ship, please give your position, Over. Chas: I am in orbit around the third planet from the star called the sun, Over. Jimi: You mean it's the Earth? Over Chas: Positive. It is known to have some form of intelligent species. Over. Jimi: I think we should take a look. Dzhhh...wshhh (etc) (Normal) Strange beautiful grass of green With your majestic silver seas Your mysterious mountains I'd wish to see closer May I land my kinky machine? (Slow) Strange beautiful (jazz shuffle begins) grass of green With your majestic silver seas Your mysterious mountains I'd wish to see closer May I land my kinky machine? (muted) Jimi: Something just doesn't seem right with these, um..people...Over. Yeah? Chas: Trying to suppress your urge... Jimi: I think we're going to have to, uh, kinda check this out (laughter) - Like, there's a lotta acid-heads around here..heh heh heh... (Normal) Although your world wonders me With your majestic and superior cackling hen Your people I do not understand So to you I shall put an end? Then you'll never hear surf music again... (Slow) Jimi: Just try and, uhh.. be a acid drop that make people fly shhhhh...dzhhh..has dropped.. wait a sec, I'm trying to time this right...hmmm. |
| 10 | Remember | 2:54 | After a demo was recorded at DLL, the track was created at Olympic. The bass line was written by Noel. The groove is fairly reminiscent of Jimi's earlier work back in America with Curtis Knight, etc... 0:00: Chordal R&B/soul intro. 0:05: 1st verse (Wilson Pickett-style groove). 0:31: 2nd verse. 0:59: Bridge. 1:08: Minor key blues guitar solo overdubbed over verse harmony. 1:35: 3rd verse (w added lead guitar overdubs). 2:01: Verse with key modulation, bridge developed/faded. |
| 11 | Are You Experienced? | 4:16 | This song was entirely created at Olympic with Kramer, Chkiantz, Mayer, etc... This song ultimately consisted of essentially 2 tracks of normal instruments (guitar/drums), 3
tracks of backwards instruments (guitar/bass/drums), 1
lead vocal track, 1 guitar overdub track and 1 final track for an
out-of-tune piano part based on octaves. This is a truly incredible song and much more can be said about it, but I'll just cut to the breakdown... 0:00: Backwards drums and clipped guitar accents. 0:12: 1st verse main harmony over a march snare groove with added bell-like piano accents and backwards bass/drums. 0:41: Vocal over backwards tape solo break, cadence. 0:58: 2nd verse, backwards tape solo break with added guitar noise, cadence. 1:39: Backwards guitar solo over forwards rhythm guitar but backwards rhythm tracks (static vamp harmony). 2:50: 3rd verse resurfaces, break, backwards tape, clipped guitar elements. 3:47: Chordal comping, ending on fade out and brief return swell. |
Are You Experienced has been released hundreds of times, but the most current official release (from Experience Hendrix/Legacy) was released in 1997. The sequencing in that edition is a bit different than what I have above. However, that edition features a fresh remaster by Eddie Kramer and liner notes by noted rock critic Dave Marsh. The 1993 MCA edition, on the other hand, features liner notes by Michael Fairchild which are a bit more detailed about the actual making of the music on the CD. The sequencing there also follows the release sequence above.
Finally, below is a studio timeline I initially tried to compile from published (and online) sources, but some of these sources ended up conflicting, so I basically gave up. Even if the dates are not precise, it gives some sense of the studio process behind the making of Are You Experienced...
| Date | Recording/Release |
| 10.23 DeLane Lea Studios |
"Hey Joe" |
| 11.02 DeLane Lea |
"Stone Free" "Can You See Me" (demo) |
| 12.16 | "Hey Joe" b/w "Stone Free" released. |
| 12.13-15 CBS Studios |
"Foxey Lady" (basic
tracks) "Can You See Me" "Love or Confusion" (basic tracks) "Third Stone From the Sun" (not used) "Red House" (LP version) |
| 12.21 DeLane Lea |
"Red House" (2 unused takes) "Remember" (demo) |
| 1967.01.11 DeLane Lea |
"Purple Haze" (basic
tracks) "51st Anniversary" "The Wind Cries Mary" "Third Stone From the Sun" (not used) "Fire" (only bass line retained) |
| 2.03, 07, 08 Olympic Studios |
"Purple Haze" (overdubs) "Foxey Lady" (overdubs) "Fire" |
| 2.20 DeLane Lea |
"Red House" (2nd
ver on Smash Hits) "Remember" (demo) "I Don't Live Today" |
| 3.01 DeLane Lea |
"Like A Rolling Stone" (scrapped) |
| 3.17 | "Purple Haze" b/w "51st Anniversary" released. |
| 3.29 DeLane Lea |
"Manic Depression" |
| 4.03 Olympic |
"Highway Chile" (basic
tracks) "Are You Experienced" (basic tracks) "Remember" "May This Be Love" |
| 4.04 Olympic |
"Third Stone From the
Sun" "Highway Chile" (overdubs) "Are You Experienced" (overdubs) "Love or Confusion" (overdubs) |
| 5.05 | "The Wind Cries Mary" b/w "Highway Chile" released. |
| 5.12 | Are You Experienced? LP released. |
